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Phrase ‘Israeli apartheid’ not discriminatory: city manager

Toronto’s top bureaucrat says the controversial name of activist group Queers Against Israeli Apartheid does not violate the city’s anti-discrimination policy.

But Mayor Rob Ford and his allies plan to proceed with their effort to deny funding to the Pride festival if the group is allowed to participate.

Ford said in March that “taxpayers’ dollars should not go toward funding hate speech.” City manager Joe Pennachetti disputed Ford’s opinion in a report released Wednesday, saying “there is no legal precedent” to suggest the phase “Israeli apartheid” constitutes a hate crime or a violation of the provincial human rights code.

Pennachetti also said the phrase does not “impede the provision of services and employment” to any group. And he urged council not to consider the activist group’s presence alone when deciding whether or not to fund Pride: the decision, he said, should “be made based on the nature of the parade itself, not the participation of a single group.”

Ford’s office signalled that the report did not change the mayor’s mind. James Pasternak, the councillor most outspokenly opposed to Queers Against Israeli Apartheid, was also unbowed — and said he would seek revisions to the anti-discrimination policy.

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Because organizations that do not abide by the anti-discrimination policy are ineligible for city grants, the report is a victory for both the group and for Pride, which received $123,807 in cash and more than $200,000 worth of services such as cleanup and policing from the city last year.

“We’re pleased about the report that’s been submitted today, because it confirms what we always believed — which was that there was not a legal basis to exclude this group from the parade,” said Francisco Alvarez, co-chair of the Pride board of directors.

Tim McCaskell, spokesperson for Queers Against Israeli Apartheid, said Pennachetti and city staff had “obviously done their homework, and talked to lawyers, and not made this a political decision but one that’s based on a reasonable look at the facts of the matter and of Canadian law.”

“It basically vindicates everything we’ve been saying for the last two years,” McCaskell said. “I don’t know how they could say it any clearer.”

Bernie Farber, chief executive of the Canadian Jewish Congress, said Pennachetti “got it wrong.” He said Pennachetti is taking an overly legalistic view on what constitutes discrimination. Farber said the decision ignores the implication in the group’s odious comparison between Israeli actions and South Africa’s racist apartheid system “that Israelis — read Jews — are basically racist.”

“The city manager doesn’t have expertise on the very complicated issue of what hatred is,” he said. “If you want to stick very tightly to the Criminal Code and that kind of thing, that’s one thing, but really, from our point of view, when you’re looking at the overall issue of discrimination, it’s quite straightforward: When you treat one group of people, in this case Israelis/Jews, differently from another based on their ethnicity, country of origin, et cetera, you are discriminating.”

Douglas Elliott, a prominent lawyer and chair of the resolution process, said the panel’s decision would be independent of Pennachetti’s. Elliott said the panel would assess the group on two grounds: whether it violates Pride’s own anti-discrimination policy, which forbids messages that promote or condone “violence, hatred, degradation or negative stereotypes,” and whether it has a message primarily related to the gay community.

Pasternak (Ward 10, York Centre), who is Jewish, called the phrase “Israeli apartheid” “highly offensive.” He said “loopholes” in the anti-discrimination policy must be eliminated.

“It might be so loosey-goosey that you could drive a truck through it,” he said. “Technically, this might not violate the policy, but then the policy might be seriously flawed.”

Major Jewish groups argue the use of the word “apartheid” to describe Israel’s treatment of Palestinians is both erroneous and hateful, saying there is no factual basis for the comparison with apartheid-era South Africa and modern Israel. They also say the activist group’s message has no place in an event intended to be a positive celebration of gay pride.

Queers Against Israeli Apartheid and its supporters say the word is appropriate, bolstering their case with statements from figures like Israeli defence minister Ehud Barak, who said in 2010 that Israel “will be an apartheid state” if Palestinians under its rule are not permitted to vote. They argue that their controversial message is part of Pride’s long history as a venue for political expression.

Pennachetti wrote: “There is a strong belief in the community that political expression of various kinds is appropriate in the context of the Parade. In this regard, it may be noted that, in addition to QuAIA, groups supporting Israel have also participated in the parade in the past.”

Pennachetti’s report is slated for discussion at an executive committee meeting next Wednesday — the second day of the Jewish holiday of Passover. Pasternak said Ford’s office has told him the item will be delayed until next month’s committee meeting so Jews can attend and make deputations. Such a delay could allow the Pride panel to rule on QuAIA before the full city council debates the funding issue.

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